Women's Tennis Finishes on High Note

Author: Tom McCann

With winter fast approaching, the women's tennis team concluded the fall season campaign with matches against Colby, Bates and the season-ending NEWITT tournament. A season that has included the emergence of an extremely talented first-year class, a historic victory over Williams and a consistently high standard of play culminated in comprehensive victories over Colby and Bates before a performance in the NEWITT tournament that has been unrivaled in recent years.

Coming off the back of a historic victory over Williams, the women's tennis team hosted Colby and Bates and barely flinched in the face of competition. Dropping just one individual match over the course of the two visits, Middlebury romped to an 8-1 victory over Colby and blanked Bates 9-0. The Panthers were aware, however, that although the matches against Colby and Bates had been relatively smooth, the NEWITT tournament would provide a whole different standard of competition.

The sensational form that the team attained at the end of the season continued into the season-ending tournament and carried the Panthers to fourth place - their best in recent years. Jena Siegel '04 put it in perspective when she commented, "Fourth place is the best we've done since I've been here. We were beaten by Amherst, Williams and Tufts who are undoubtedly three of the best teams in the U.S." With the points total corresponding to the number of matches won by each team, Middlebury tallied 22.5 points - an increase of 9 points from the 13.5 earned last year. The difference was that this season, for the first time ever, every team that Middlebury took to the tournament recorded at least one victory.

Highlights for the Panthers included a performance by Claire Smyser '07 who reached the final of her bracket in the singles. The third doubles team of Kristin Baker '04 and Smyser also reaching the final of its bracket. Despite losing out in the final of those two matches, Middlebury was able to take one win home with them when the second doubles team of Siegel and Amy Roche '07 defeated a team from Williams by a score of 8-2. With appearances in the final of three out of the nine brackets, Middlebury finished its season with a bang and clearly signaled that this team will be a force to be reckoned with when the spring season rolls around.

In looking back on the fall season, Siegel cited the performance of the first-year players as a key to the successful season: "The first-years have been a great addition to the team both in terms of what they have brought to the tennis and to the team dynamic." Siegel went on to note that the women have really stepped up their play this season and that they are now looking forward to the spring season. The NCAA tournament in the spring is the real culmination of a year's tennis for the women and Middlebury made its first appearance there last year. This year, with the talent that runs through the team and confidence gained from their performances in the fall, the women aim to improve on their performance at the NCAA tournament last spring and excel in a manner that has been one of the stories of Middlebury's fall sports season.